Kristin + John :: October 20, 2007

I don't know what in the whirlwind of life prevented me from taking pause to celebration the beautiful day that was a good friend of mine's wedding... October, Milwaukee, plenty of orange and red and wide grins. She was truly a beautiful bride, and I loved loved watching how she glided down the aisle.


The Herd: my freshman year of high school, Kelly and I drifted apart. It had something to do with jealousy and not expanding friends, etc. It doesn't matter now, because we reunited, richer for the experience.

The Herd: There were five of us. Mandy, who you have met before, the delightful recent mother, the one whose personality was probably the most opposite of my own, but has been the one who has seen me through the most of the chaos of my late adolescent life. She's the wild one, the one who showed me the naughty bits of books on the bus (a little much on the alliteration, yes?). Mandy is a treasure. Beth, who was then Elizabeth, who was then Elizard-beef-broth-with-chunky-tomatoes--don't ask me why, but it was something I called her, this slender wisp of a girl, this immense, glowing talent, who could take on anything and push it to the utmost success, and I was fortunate enough to be her friend (because if I weren't, I would be ragingly jealous of her). Kim, the sweet one, the one who logically became an elementary teacher, the one who will mother you, the one who will always listen and commiserate, and then tell you patiently about whether or not you're being an idiot.

The Herd: There was me, of course, and then, there was Kristin. Kristin of the beautiful laugh. Kristin whose parents bought her her own phone line because she was such a good conversationalist (that might not have been how they put it then). Kristin who would listen--for hours--about nearly anything--completely in synch, completely buoying you up out of any kind of funk, or raising you up to the rooftops. Kristin is the most loyal and passionate of friends.

And I'm so happy for her because she is one of the people on the planet that deserves such immense happiness. I've met her lovely husband, John, years ago, when they were fairly a new couple, as they've been together for a good long while now, and he is a very good person too--loud, one of the loudest I've ever met, but he has such a big heart too, and it shows. I'm OK with his spending forever with Kristin because I know he'll care for her, love her, and let her care for him too. I think they make a good team.

And soon, we'll see how the voters think of them as a team too. Or rather, how they think of John. You can see in this article, how John is running for third district alderman in Milwaukee. So if you happen to live out there in those crazy woods, send him a little support. He's got some pretty good values, he works hard, and I trust him.